But from police reports, it is hard to tell who is telling the truth of what really happened. Castaneda says Vargas took a swing at him, missed, and then spit in his face. Vargas says Castaneda either pushed or kicked him to the ground, put his knee on his stomach and then punched him repeatedly. Vargas also says that Castaneda did not stop hurting him until a person passing in a car stopped the vehicle and urged Castaneda to stop the beating.

Police say the case is closed pending further leads.

"The suspect and victim are telling very different stories, we need a key witness," said police investigator Vince Mairona. Mairona said detectives have repeatedly tried to contact witnesses but they've been uncooperative or unavailable.

Today's news does not mean the end of legal hot water for Councilman Castaneda.

He will be back in court next week to deal with a charge of driving with a suspended license. Castaneda has said that he didn't know his license was suspended and accused police of stopping him only because they were targeting him.

His lawyer said the city leader is the target of a "witch hunt" being carried out by Salinas police.

Police responded by saying the officers who stopped Castaneda were near his house that day because they had been dealing with a house fire just around the corner from Castaneda's Nogal Circle home.